MINGLE — NYE & Winn's Birthday PARTY!

[passingthrough]

Who: Everyone!
Broadcast: Broadcast — Earlier than now for planning
Action: Hotel Corona — Winn's birthday / NYE party!
When: Action — Dec. 31 / New Year's Eve

[Broadcast (open to everyone but Winn)]
At the risk for earning a reputation as a party planner, I have a thing for everyone to attend again. Don't worry, lots of other people are helping pull it together. It's going to be on New Year's Eve, but the real event is the countdown to Winn's birthday which is also on the first. It's going to be in a club we rented out for this in the red shift district. Starts around seven-ish. Ends when you pass out?

It's kind of a surprise maybe? At least the part where it's for his birthday. And if you don't know Winn but you still want to come that's fine too. You can trade a gift for Winn for a free drink at the bar. Otherwise, bring some money. Cake's on us though.

[Birthday/New Year's Party]
[The space is well decorated and so glittered you can probably tell Wrath was part of the team putting this together. Lots of Winn's friends came out to help whether it was getting decorations up, managing food, music, or chipping in to buy out the space and a drink for anyone bringing a gift. Not to mention drinks for the birthday boy all night.

There's a table for presents and another one with a spread of openly available food though the bar has appetizers you can buy too. There's a big cake at one end because of course there is and some punch that didn't start the night spiked at least. There's space for dancing and a karaoke machine set up on a small raised platform for those who want to try their hand at entertainment.

The night really kicks off when Winn walks in and instead of a balloon drop there's a fluffy blue stuffed bear drop. Feel free to take one of those home. There are a lot.

When midnight comes closer some people will file out to one of the observation areas to get a good view of the nebula for the big countdown. Bring your own person to kiss!

Comments

[stefanged]

Were you around when Azula was captain? [He laughs, though it comes out a little bitter.] The name was especially ironic back then, but uh - besides stories? I can't say my experience has much else to offer.

[ladybro]

Yeah, I've been here long enough to bear witness to Captain Azula. Jeez. [ that (evidently) had been a decision that never sat well with kate. ] What a sack of hammers she was.

[stefanged]

I can't say I had the uh, "privilege" of meeting her in person, but - you've got Hank now, and he's eons better.

[He blanches, a little - partially from an oncoming headache, but also from his own topic of conversation.]

Sorry, I digressed. A lot.

[ladybro]

Digress away. Please. [ she takes this moment to raise their joined hands over her head and 'lead' him into gently spinning her. ] Azula was a piece of work. She had a real bad habit of calling the rest of us peasants. It didn't sit well with me.

[ and not just because kate's family name is plastered on at least one new york skyscraper back home. ]

[stefanged]

[He's going to do her one better - his brief headache must've kicked something into gear, because he'll spin her and catch her with practiced grace. As if he's done this a thousand times over.]

Now I'm super glad I never ran into her. [He laughs, almost relieved.] That's no way to treat anyone, let alone people as important as your crew.

[ladybro]

[ -- oh! delight steals across her face. kate hadn't planned on such a formal and elegant dance. but when the physical tone of their partnership changes, kate changes to match it. she might not have the best ballroom chops but she's got a history of ballet lessons to fall back upon. poise and balance come easily.

her smile is sly. ]

She sucked. Hank's a much better captain.

[stefanged]

Good. For a moment there, I was worried I'd have to talk to him, captain-to-captain.

[He wasn't. He really wasn't - though his eyes light up at her matched skill. Stefan moves a little faster with the tempo, and in turn, nudges her a little as if asking for permission to lead. He may not know these new-fangled dances, but ballroom? That, he's just regained mastery of.]

[ladybro]

[ as forceful a personality as she possesses, kate's too curious to not let him take the lead. she relents -- delivers herself smoothly into his dancing care. so to speak. ]

I know him from home. Actually. [ a huff of laughter. she shakes her head. ] Sorta? I know a version of him. He doesn't know me.

[stefanged]

[He almost glides across the floor - it does feel a little weird, going full-out ballroom to a song that's too fast for its rhythm, but Stefan manages without stumbling.]

Oh, so it's like a time-travel thing? Or are you talking more alternate universes?

[ladybro]

Honestly, it's a bit of both. [ her hand slips from his neck to his shoulder -- adjusting where she anchors herself to him to better suit the style. ] His present is my years ago. But beyond that, the universes still don't match up. It's not a new thing. I've encountered people from no less than -- five different versions of home. Six, if you count my own.

[stefanged]

No way. [He doesn't mean to sound disbelieving, really - six different universes sounds a little beyond his comprehension right now.] Makes you wonder how that happened in the first place. As for me, I've heard of, like, people from my world ending up in different pocket dimensions? That's about it.

[ladybro]

It's -- actually? [ she grimaces while deciding how to explain it. ] Kinda common back home, too. Interdimensional interlopers are way more common than you might think. I've been one myself.

[ one of her best friends can travel the multiverse at will. ]

[stefanged]

That's insane.. Like, good kind of insane - we had teleporters back home, and we could travel across the world pretty easily, but we'd never managed universal travel.

[He pauses,] It is good insane, right?

[ladybro]

It can be. [ kate's answer is frank. and honestly given. ] Mostly? It depends on the dimension. Some are worse than others.

[stefanged]

I can only imagine. [He has zero frame of reference, beyond the Fleet, so he'll take her word for it.] How'd you uh, even get into the business of dimension hopping?

[ladybro]

[ there's no easy way to say a dimensional parasite was hunting me and my friends so we had to jump from one world to another just to stay ahead of it and safeguard our home-world.

so, instead, she tells a different kind of truth -- right after a second spin: ] I'm a superhero.

[stefanged]

[A couple of years ago, he knows he wouldn't have believed her. He also knows that he wouldn't have caught her as gracefully.]

Sure you should be telling me that? [His voice is light, almost teasing - ] I thought you capes had secret identities to worry about.

[ladybro]

Some of us do. Some of us don't. I used to be part of the former, but now I'm part of the latter.

[stefanged]

Huh. [He distracts himself from asking why - she might've been unmasked on TV, a la Cure Winter! - by gently resting a hand along her lower back, and nudging her to go ahead and take a dip. He's got this.] Guess I learn something new every day.

[ladybro]

Hawkeye, by the way. [ oh. her fingers anchor on stefan's shoulder. with practiced ease, she dips backwards -- it isn't hard for her to trust him to support her on the way down. ] Kate Bishop, AKA Hawkeye. World's greatest marksman. Markswoma. Marksperson. Whatever.

[stefanged]

[Unsurprisingly, he's got her back as he maintains his position,] Well then. I'm glad to be in such super company, Hawkeye.

Thank you, [He says as he pulls her back up with equally practiced grace,] For the dance, I mean.

[ladybro]

Uhm. [ she's keen to keep a gentle hold on him. ] I kinda feel like I should be the one thanking you. Dude, you've got moves.

[stefanged]

[He laughs, comfortable to remain where he is.] Only when I've got a good partner, it seems.

[ladybro]

I'm good, [ she gladly admits. ] But I'm not that good. I can't spontaneously make people dance -- I'm a New Yorker, but I ain't a Broadway musical.

Spill. You holding out on me?

[stefanged]

Of course not. I wasn't kidding about my inability to dance. Er, former inability?

[Echoes are tricky beasts that way.]

I uh, I have memory problems. Sometimes I'll think I don't know something, only to remember it in the moment.